


Son of Rome

by reader1718



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, West Side Story (1961)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-03-09 14:43:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3253577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reader1718/pseuds/reader1718





	Son of Rome

Son of Rome

Tony Wyzek was an ordinary kid, or at least he thought he was. His mother had left when he was just a baby, and his father, Jack, had married a woman named Linda. Jack was a retired army soldier who had been serving overseas when he’d met Tony’s mom on the battlefield. She was shouting war cries, her weapons clanging loudly as she ran into the battle. Jack was impressed by her apparent command of the situation. They ended up leading a charge together, and later had dinner together a few times. Eventually these encounters led to something more and nine months later, Tony was born. Eventually she had told him who she was, that she was a goddess, and that she had to leave them, as it was decreed by Jupiter. Jack had kept her teachings alive by telling Tony the stories of Roman mythology, including all about the Roman Olympian Pantheon, even about Romulus and Remus–the founders of Rome.

Then one night, Jack had a dream in which a wolf with chocolate red fur and eyes as silver as mist told him to take Tony to an abandoned old house called Wolf House. There, she said, Tony would undergo a test to see if he was strong enough to be trained. If he was, she told him, she would train him for a month in the skills he would need to survive, and if he made it through the training alive, he would then need to trust his instincts to to find his way to Camp Jupiter, home of the Roman Legion. She didn’t say what would happen if she judged him to be weak, but Jack figured it wasn’t good. Jack was told that if Tony managed to make it to Camp Jupiter, a praetor would decide if he could join the Legion before sending him to have his augury read. If it was favorable, then he could officially join the Legion.

Then one day when Tony was twelve years old, his stepmother contracted cancer, and despite their best efforts to cure her, she soon passed away. Jack knew the time had come for Tony’s journey to Wolf House, and after Linda’s funeral, they packed him what he would need for the journey, and Jack put him on the train to California with instructions to get off at the stop for Sonoma Valley and walk to the Wolf House from there. Tony did so, but was sorry to leave his father. Upon his arrival at the Wolf House, Tony stood there looking around in puzzlement for awhile, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do. A few moments later, however, he noticed a large she-wolf circling him with fur that was a chocolate red color. He watched her, but didn’t flinch, waiting for her to attack before making any kind of hostile move. Finally the wolf stopped circling after several minutes and to his surprise, spoke. “You are worthy. I am Lupa, the she-wolf who once raised Romulus and Remus. You are now my newest cub, and I will instruct you in the skills you will need to make it in life. You are a demigod, and you have a long and arduous training period ahead of you, young hero. If you survive the training, I will give you directions to the place where you will live and serve in the Twelfth Roman Legion. How you get there is up to you. You will have to fight your way there alone. Conquer or die,” the wolf said.

After getting over his initial shock at the wolf talking, Tony’s training began in earnest. The training took over a month and it was a very arduous and grueling month for Tony. Lupa’s training was tough, and it was clear that only the strong would survive it. Tony learned how to use various Roman weapons and was taught the philosophies of Rome, the most important being Lupa’s frequently used phrase, “Conquer or die”. Finally after the long month was over, Tony was deemed ready to become a legionnaire and was given directions to their base, Camp Jupiter, named for the king of the Roman Pantheon. He found his way there purely by instinct, even though he had some directions from Lupa. It was a hard journey, but he finally made it to the Caldecott Tunnel, where he saw what appeared to be a utility door in between the two tunnels for traffic. Tony assumed the mortals probably thought it was a maintenance tunnel, if they noticed it at all, but he knew they couldn’t see through the Mist, which Lupa had told him veiled the sight of mortals and kept them from seeing what they weren’t meant to see. It could also affect demigods, but usually to a lesser extent. Two kids in armor flanked the entrance. They wore a bizarre mix of plumed Roman helmets, breastplates, scabbards, blue jeans, purple t-shirts, and white athletic shoes.

Judging by the fact that the two kids appeared to be wearing Roman armor, Tony assumed this was the entrance to the camp that Lupa had told him about. He asked for safe passage into the camp and the two kids hesitated, until a monster that had been chasing Tony for miles appeared over the ridge. The two kids acted quickly and ushered him inside. They went down an extremely long tunnel and finally emerged into sunlight. Tony stared in awe at the place before him. Spread out at his feet was a bowl-shaped valley several miles wide. The basin floor was rumpled with smaller hills, golden plains, and stretches of forest. A small clear river cut a winding course from a lake in the center and around the perimeter, like a capital G. the geography could’ve been anywhere in Northern California–live oaks and eucalyptus trees, gold hills and blue skies. That big inland mountain–what was it called, Mount Diablo?–rose in the distance, right where it should be. In the center of the valley, nestled by the lake, was a small city of white marble buildings with red tiled roofs. Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments. Others looked like palaces, with golden doors and large gardens. He could see an open plaza with freestanding columns, fountains, and statues. A five-story tall Roman coliseum gleamed in the sun, next to a long oval arena like a racetrack. 

Across the lake to the south, another hill was dotted with even more impressive buildings that appeared to be temples. Several stone bridges crossed the river as it wound through the valley, and in the north, a long line of brickwork arches stretched from the hills into the town. Tony thought it looked like an elevated train track. Then he realized it must be an aqueduct. The strangest part of the valley was right below him. About 200 yards away, just across the river, was some sort of military encampment. It was about a quarter mile square, with earthen ramparts on all four sides, the tops lined with sharpened spikes. Outside the walls ran a dry moat, also studded with spikes. Wooden watchtowers rose at each corner, manned by sentries with oversized, mounted crossbows. Purple banners hung from the towers. A wide gateway opened on the far side of camp, leading towards the city. A narrower gate stood closed on the riverbank side. Inside, the fortress bustled with activity: dozens of kids going to and from barracks, carrying weapons, polishing armor. Tony could hear the clank of hammers at a forge and smell meat cooking over a fire.

Tony was taken straight to one of the current praetors, Reyna, a daughter of Bellona, the Roman war goddess. She interrogated him for a long time before deciding he was allowed to join the Legion. He was then taken to have his augury read by the camp augur, Octavian, who ripped open a stuffed animal to read its “ entrails” before declaring a favorable outcome. Tony was thereafter put on Probatio, which would be until he committed an act of valor or completed one year of service. He was assigned to the Fifth Cohort, as he had no reference letters, and moved into one of the barracks that very day. He was given his first official Camp Jupiter t-shirt, which was purple with a laurel wreath on it and the letters SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Senate and people of Rome)). The next day his life at camp started in earnest. He awoke for First Muster and breakfast (served by invisible wind spirits, and the campers reclined and lounged on couches), then had his Probatio duties and barracks cleaning, then it was lunch and Second Muster. Then it was his turn on sentry duty with Frank. In between, he had some combat training, and wondered when his mother would claim him.

A month later, the camp was preparing for the War Games, in which two cohorts defended a fort built that day, while the remaining three attacked it. Their objective was to get the two banners inside the fort, but though each attacking cohort sort of helped the others, they didn’t exactly work as allies, as they would if they were playing a team sport like football. However, Tony was given to understand that it wasn’t War Games every night. Sometimes it was death ball, which was like paintball, but with poison, acid, and fireballs. Sometimes it was chariots and gladiator competitions. Shortly the War Games were underway and all hell broke loose. Once Tony even stepped in front of a member of another cohort and blocked an arrow headed his way with his shield. This earned him a quick look of gratitude from the legionnaire, but both kept on fighting. Unfortunately the Fifth lost the Games again, but Frank didn’t look too upset. After the Games were over and the honors were awarded, the camp got a surprise. A hologram appeared over Tony’s head and he received an Ave from the campers, and it was announced he was a son of Bellona, the goddess of war. The next day, he received his official Camp Jupiter tattoo: Bellona’s symbol and the letters SPQR. He couldn’t get his first mark yet because he hadn’t been at camp a full year yet.

It wasn’t long before they received word that Saturn was rising and planning a major attack on Olympus from Mount Othrys, the Titans’ base. The whole of the Twelfth Legion was assembled to attack Saturn’s palace on Mount Othrys, and Jason Grace himself toppled the throne. After that, it appeared that Saturn had vanished after they destroyed his throne and his main base on Mount Othrys. This left everyone mystified, but in true Roman style, they moved on quickly. There was much feasting that night in celebration of their victory at Mount Othrys and Tony truly enjoyed it. He remained at camp for a long time after that, earning many stripes under his tattoo and making quite a name for himself. He occasionally visited the outside world, after asking permission from one of the current praetors before doing so. His friends in the Jets gang were extremely curious about his tattoo and where he’d been all this time, as well as why he seemed so different. Tony told them as much as he was able, without revealing too much, and eventually headed back to camp for another year.

During his time at camp, a lot happened, including a plot to resurrect Alcyoneus, one of the giant sons of Gaea. Surprisingly, they were joined in this endeavor by Percy Jackson (who’d mysteriously changed places with Jason) and a whole camp of Greek demigods, Camp Half-Blood, who it turned out had been responsible for Saturn’s disappearance before. They arrived in a flying Greek warship, but came in peace. Octavian tried to persuade them that the Greeks weren’t to be trusted, especially once the warship fired on the camp, but they ended up teaming up anyway after Reyna and Percy were convinced that an outside party had been indirectly responsible. A team comprised of seven demigods, including Hazel, Frank, and Percy stopped Alcyoneus, but Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena was looked at fearfully, as she was the subject of a prophecy. She was sent on a quest to retrieve her mother’s statue from Rome, a quest she nearly failed. She and Percy even wound up trapped behind the Doors of Death. The warship’s crew, headed by Leo Valdez, then headed off to rescue them. Tony didn’t hear more about the quest after that, as he was too busy preparing to assault Camp Half-Blood in a month. However, the assault turned out to be unnecessary, as Annabeth and Percy were rescued, the Doors of Death sealed, and the monsters died. The two camps never mixed again, but they were there for each other when needed. Tony served in the Legion a total of ten years before opting to muster out and go to college in New Rome. He graduated with honors and tried to live in the outside world for awhile, but after his father died, he told his friends he was moving to New Rome and lived there the rest of his days.


End file.
